How One Renegade Pro Skater Changed Shoe Design Forever

Don’t you dare limit Chad Muska. Not even for a second. Don’t pigeonhole him or give him a job title or try to put him in a box. Because he’ll smash out of that box, then stomp on it, then burn it down and do kickflips over the charred remains. That’s how he rolls.

“I wake up, I think, and I create, every day,” Muska says, when asked to give his work some parameters.

“What do you create?” I ask.

“I create…” He pauses for a moment, deciding whether to give that simple declarative statement any boundaries. After a second, he opts against it. “I create.”

This special brand of boundless ideation is serving Muska well. From his days as your favorite avatar on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater to his design of a skate shoe with freaking airbags, the man has dreamed big and then smashed those dreams out of the park.